wesson



D; B. WESSON. y

Breach-Loading Fire-Armi D. B. Wasson, orisPRINeFmIlD,fMAssAcHusErTs, lsustenten To wEssoN.

"Finn-ARMS COMPANY, or SAME PLAGE.;

am Pimm No. 78,847, dated Junge 9, 1868.'

IMPROVEMENT Bannon-LOADING FIRE-Artusi itin tigshltle-nfemt tu in that ttitett what numbing patiti ge time p TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONOERN:

Beit known that I, D. B. WESSO, ot'lSpringiield, in the county of Hampden, and'Commonwealth tif-Massachusetts, have invented cer-tain new and useful Improvements'in `Britisch-Loading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that -the following is la' full and vexa'c't description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings,

vmaking a part of' this speeiiication,'and to the letters of reference marked thereon, infwhichn Figure 1 is a side `elevation of the frameof said-firearm, and the operative parts attached thereto, and of the barrels, the latter being 4shown as broken oil beyond the frame, and the nearer hammer being removed to. show parts ofthe lock beneath it,

Figure 2 is a section of' the frame, Vthrough the line F G, iig. l.

Figure 3 is a plan view ofvthe'rame and appartenant parts, the barrels being removed.

Figures 4 and 6 are respectively a sid'eelevationand plan View of the breech of the barrels.

Figure 5 is a ongitudinal vertiealseetion through the line HMI, fig. 3, the block being removed.

Figure 7 is an end elevation of the breech of thelbarrels, and l' Figure 8 is a longitudinal vertical section through theline M N, iig. 7.

Figure 9 is a plan viewof the movable metallic bloclr, which operates in connection with a recessed projection upon the barrels to secure or lockthe'rear end ofthe latter Ato the frame in positioufor firing.

Figure 10 is a longitudinal vertical section, through theline K L, fig. 9. v` I Figure 11 is an end elevation of said block, showing the end which is farthest from the barrels. i

Figure 12 is also an end elevation of saidbloele showing theiend which engages withvthe projection upon the barrels. v

Figure 13 is a-longitudinal vertical section, through the line K L, iig. 12.

Figure 14 is an elevation `0f the trigger. I

Figure 15 is a side elevation', and y.f

Figure 16 is a plan view of the sere. or pawl which engages with the notches in the tumbler. The nature of my invention consists- First, in the mean's of securing or locking the breech (or loading-end) of theA barrels in place inthe frame of the gun, the devieesfor effecting' which are so constructed and arranged that they not only locli the breech to the frame in position for firing, and disengage it for reloading, but they also resist and prevent any forward movement of the breech relatively 4to the frame or stock,l as well as any upward movement of the same, and

lmay also be so constructed as to exert both a downward and backward fonce or draught upon the breech.

Second, in thc construction of the tumblers and of said movable block, in such a manner that they co-operate to raise the hammers to the position known as haiil cock, at the same time that theend ofthe barrels is ydisengaged from the movable block.

Third, in a certainconstruction and arrangement of the ysere and triggelgwhereby the pressure of the sere-spring is transmitted to the trigger, andthe looseness and play ofthe latter are prevented, while the, triggerspring usually employed is dispensed with. v i Fourth, in .linin-grtlie cartridge-*chambers of a breech-loading fire-arm with non-corrosive metal, forv the punposecf preventing injury and deterioration of the innei* surface of the chamber from corrosion.

It willbe seen that the two points lastnamed are'independent in construction and operation of the devices specified before them, and also of one another, andrmo'reover, that myv said invention, whieh,as herein illustrated and described, is applied to a double-barrelled breech-loading gun, is equally applicable,'with slight and'obvious changes of detail, to single-barrelled fire-arms of the breech-loading class. I

The construction ot my invention is as follows:

The iron fijamef asit is termed gs. 1, 3,. and 5, consists. of the bree'chplate C, near the middle of the length ofthe freme,'the part B behind the plate, which supports the dierent parts ofthe lock, andthe part C',

'Jaan 2 which extends beneath the barrels, and terminates in an enlarged and slotted portion, D, which receives the ear u, by which the barrels are pivoted to the frame, as shown in fig. 2. The barrels A A, having the angular space between them covered bythe rib A1, turn upon the screw-bolt U as a fulcrum, and the centre of motion is thus located so far below the barrels that the plane of the rear. end of the barrels is parallel to the face of the 'breech-plate Cfwhen the former are locked in place for tiring. rlhe general' forni and appearance of fire arms to which my invention is applied are substantially the lsaine as in guns of the same class as heretofore constructed, and most of the operativp parts are the same, withl the changes hereinafter stated.

The first part of my invention, as before classified, is constructed and operated as follows: At the rcar end of the barrels is formed the rigid projection E, the`upper surface of which is bevelled, as shown, to conform to the outline of the frame at the joint. l

The corresponding grooves @Z1 d1, iigs. 4 and 6, are cut upon the opposite sides of the projection; said grooves being rectangular in transverse section, and the sides of each groove being curved, so as'to be or to approximate to aros of concentric circles, the centre of which circles isA in the axis of Vthemovable block. A slot, e, g. 5, is cut in the Vbreech-plate to allow the projection Eto descend.

Thev body of the movable block 6, which is cojnctive with the projection E, is in the form oi' a portion o f a cylinder, (nearly a semi-cylinder,) from the curved surface of which spring the similar ears g g, and also the part d, in which is formed the recess m for receiving the end of E. The similar curved ilanges c egon each end of the blockb,`se rve as guides to control-theA motion of thev block within the recess b in the frame, the sides of these guides being arcs of lcircles, Athe centres of which are in the axis of the semicylindrical block b. Channels,'c c', are cut in the opposite sides' of 'the recess m', and serve as ways in which the ,guiding-flanges c c slide, being made in the same'curve. t

The recess in the frame is also extended at de, to receive the part d of the block,and allow itto be depressed far enough to clear the 'projection'E outhe barrels. It is evident that the block b, thus arranged in the frame, will have a rotary motion 'within vcertain limits, and that the axis of this rotation'will coincide with the axis of the cylinder, of which the block b is a part. l

To prevent the block from rotating too freely, a friction-pin, o, iig. 5, is inserted in the hole t in the frame, and pressed outward by the spiral spring o beneath it. A slight depression may be made in the curved surface of the block, at the point where the friction-pi meets it, when the barrels arelocked in place, 'soV as to produce a slightly increased resistance to any movement ofthe block from the locking position. The form of the recessm in theblock is shown in rigs 9,12, and 13, the lips @Z d beingcurved, so as to enterthc recesses dkd in the projec tion E, and the inner and outer edges of d d being aresgot` circles, whose centres are in the axis of the block. 'It' the curved sides of the recesses d1 all, in the project-ion E, are exacta-rcs of circles, whose centres are also in the axis of the block, the lips will not only enter Ithe recesses and hold the breech down to the frame in position for'tiring, but will also resist anyforward movement of the rear end ofthe barrels away from thebreech-plate C and the frame or stock. If thc latter arcs are describedwith a slightly longer radius, or from a centre slightly above the axis of the block, the effect ofthe block and projection E, when engaged together, will be not only to lock the breech to the frame, and prevent any forwarder upward movement of the breech, but also to exert a force or draught upon the breech in a downward and backward direction.' And it will be seen that this down- Ward and backward draught may be increased or lessened/by a very slight variation of the form of the curved engaging parts. v l Y To rotate the block, one end of the rod a, which lIl denominate a lever, is attached to the upper 'side ofthe block by the screw s, and the other end is turned at an angle at a?, to forma thumb-piece for lifting the lever. By raising the rear end of the lever, the block can be rotated so far as to clear the projection E upon the barrels, and leave the latter free to be tilted upward for loading or cleaning. When the breech of the barrels is again depressed, so as to rest upon the frame beneath in position for firing, it can be locked in that position by drawing the lever a downward, when the block will rotate back/to its former position, and the curved lips d d upon it will enter and engage with the curved notches in the projection E, and, when fully entered, the upper surfaces of the blo'ek and the projection will be in line, and thelatter cannot be disengaged or the barrels tilted `without iirst pushing up the 'lever a, and th'erebywrotating the'block. It is, moreover, obvious that the block,

instead of rotating, as shown, may be arranged to rotate in a plane at a right angle, or'nearly so, to its present plane of rotation, in which case the lever a would be pushed sidewise, fordisengaging `the barrels, instead of upward, and the position ofthe engaging parts would be changed accordingly, while their relative action would remain the same; and also'that a block working in channels or ways formed in the frame of the'gun, and having-,instead of a rotary'motioma rectilinear motion upward, and inclining away from the line of the axis of the barrels, when locked, may be used with substantially the same effect as the rotating block, the engaginglips a7l OZ,- and recesses cZ all being shaped accordingly.

I believe a movable block in the frame of a breech-loading firearm, so arranged as to engage with a prof jection upon the barrel or barrels, and co-ac'ting with such projection, not only to secure the breech of the barrel or barrels to the frame, but to resist and prevent any forward or upward movement of the breech relatively to the frame or stock, and also, if required, to draw the breechdownward and back relatively to the frame or stock, substantially as described, to benew and valuable in lthe construction of breech-loadinglire-arms, and'to possess important advantages overthe locking-arrangement generally used, which docs not res-'ist any tendency to the forward movement of the barrels away from' the frame or stock, and over the arrangement of a spring-` catch mounted on the tang of the breech-plate, and takingiinto a Anotch in the upper part of therbarrels, or n. projection thereon, as set forth in Letters Patent, No.` 50,432, granted'to Westley Richards, October 10, 1865. For purposes of safety 'and convenience, it is desirable that the hammer should be raised tothe half-cock, and there held when the rear end ofthe barrels is raisedfrom the frame for reloading, and until the breech is locked in place; and this I accomplish by means ofthe ear g, formed upon the block b, and acting on the dogf, formed on the tumbler f. When the lever a is raised, and the block turned, the ear g meets the dog f and carries it back, and thereby revolves the squareheaded shaft n. The hammer n being litted to this shaft, is

also carried back to the half cock by the pressure o'f the ear y, and held by the sere-nose It,V which acts as a pawl, Working in they tumbler-notches The limited motion of the block raises the hammer only to the half cock, and until the block is turned back to the locking vposition the hammer cannot be lowered so 4as to reach the breech-plate, or strike' the cartridge, as the ear will/come in contact with the dog upon the tumbler, and thus render the trigger inoperative to let the hammer down'upon the cartridge. If the gun be double-barrelled, ears will be formed upon the block to meet the dog upon each tumbler, and `both hammers will be raised at the same time, and to thehsame point`. A i

Instead of the trigger-spring usually employed to maintain a slight pressure upon the trigger, and prevent unnecessary play of the latter in the slot through which it enters the frame, I employ the pressure of the serespring l for the same purpose. This I effect by forming a projection, t', upon the end of the sere 7L, (figs. 15 and 16,) and by making an opening, t", in the plate ,7" of the trigger j, (fig. 14,) to receive the projection z'. The downward pressure ofthe spring Zupon the sere-will thus be imparted tothe trigger, and the play of the latter will lie/prevented without the use of the usual trigger-spring, thus simplifying the construction and operation of the lock. 'i v The inner surface of the cartridge-chamber X, (ligs. 7 and8,) if unprotected, is liable to become corroded and roughened by the gases evolved in tiring and from neglect, and the insertion f the cartridge and the withdrawal of the shell after firing are thus rendered diliicult; To obviate this, I increase the diameter of the bore at the part which is enlarged for a cartridgc-chamber suficientlyto allow of the introduction of a hollow cylinder, of copper or other non-corrosive metal, the length and inner diameter of which are those of the desired cartridge-chamber. This cylinder'is then soldered, or otherwise fastened iirmly in place Within the enlarged bore as a bushing, and from its nature will retain a smooth and polished inner` surfabe after use, and be comparatively free from oxidation and deterioration. I denot, however, claim as new, forming a lining for the cartridge-chamber by means of electro-plating,` or any like means.`

The cap (Eg. 2) for covering the head ofl thc screw-bolt or pivot 11', upon which the barrels turner tilt, in guns ofthe class described, is shown inlig'. 2. As heretofore constructed, the pivot v is made of such length that the shoulder o f the slotted head bears upon the outside of the frame D, and is shaped to correspond with the outside of the frame against whichit bears. Where it becomes necessary, from the wearing of any of the parts sho'rfn in fig. 2, to turn up the sc rew o, the head, being shaped to conform to a certain position, will leave an angular projection on one side when turned, which is unsightly in appearance and inconvenient in use. I

therefore make the opening in the frame large enough to` allow the screw-heady to enter the frame :tsuiiicient distance, and then close the opening by the cap t', the outer surface of which is shaped to correspond with the contour of the frame at that po int, and is held in place by theset-screw u'. By this method of construction,

'the screw-head is made flat, and by removing the cap, can be turned at any time, and to any position, without injury to the appearance lor utility of the {irc-arm.

l Having described' my invention, what I claim as newA therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

1. The'metallic block b, and the recessed 4projection E, upon the. breech or loading-end of the barrel or barrels, when constructedarranged, andl operating substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The described construction and arrangemenhin reference to each other, hof' the block b and tumbler f, whereby the hammers shall be raised to the half eockin the operation of releasing the breech from the frame, substantiallyas described.

3. The projection t', upon the sere z, in combination with the opening z" in the plate j' ofthe triggerj, substantially as and for the purpose specified. i

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 19th day of November, A. D. 1867.

A 4D. B. WESSON.

Witnesses:

J. P. BUCKLAND, T. A. CURTIS.` 

